The contribution of the television to the perception of beauty among women

Print Building egalitarian societies is one of the priorities of modern democratic states. Mass media play a unique and important role in the shaping of a society where men and women enjoy equal rights. This is reached through several means, including psychological, social, economic, philosophical, awareness of human rights, political and so on. The role of media is important for being successful in all the mentioned spheres.

The media can promote and speed up the reforms in progress, or, on the contrary, it can hamper their implementation. A number of international conferences and conventions have voiced and publicized the need to break public stereotypes through change in the media policy.

Mass media, however, continue to reproduce discriminatory stereotypes about women and portray them in sexist ways. As a rule, women are portrayed in a narrow range of characters in mass media. If we were to divide mass media into two categories, such as fictional and news-reporting, then in the former, women are often associated with the household or sex-objects, and in the latter category, they lack roles.

Only in a limited number of news programs do women appear as main actors or experts. Docility, sweetness, serenity and resignation were considered the feminine characteristics, while the expectations of men were courage, decisiveness and competitiveness - values and practices that would also be learned in school, now understood as the place of excellence for the formal education of children and youth of both sexes.

In case of traditional media, it is possible to work with the leadership and staff to undergo training and achieve some results. In 2012 The International Women's Media Foundation carried out a study of world news agencies and corporations to determine the status of women in the news media.

Written and visual information were found in the doll's guidelines, which allowed assessment of the production of meaning regarding what it means to be beautiful and how to become beautiful.

TV advertisements tend to include more middle-aged women than the magazines.

The releases for children,from the cosmetic and perfume industries, may be taken as examples of the role that Barbie's Beauty Tips have in girls' construction of femininity by way of consumer products for esthetics.

Only in a limited number of news programs do women appear as main actors or experts. One of the reasons for this situation is the smaller number of women in these spheres, but even the existing number of women are underrepresented compared to their male counterparts. In advertising and magazines, women are usually portrayed as young, slim and with beauty that meets the accepted standards.

Women with this kind of appearance are often associated with sex objects. Why do social scientists attribute importance to study of images and stereotypes of women in media?

Women and Mass Media

Femininity, as well as masculinity, are not biological, but rather, cultural constructs. Representations and manifestations of femininity differ across cultures, time and societies. Femininity is culturally and socially constructed by the family, education, the public, and to a larger extent, the media. In the initial stage of its history, media were managed exclusively by men. In other words, men were creating media images of men and women they wished to see in reality.

Media images of women have become a subject of criticism in Feminist Media Studies since 1960s, when Betty Friedan in her book entitled The Feminine Mystique 1963 revealed and criticized the image of an ideal woman in post-war America.

Friedan calls this image "the happy housewife heroine. On one hand, they are decorative objects. Yet, at the same time, they are passive individuals in the household and in marriage who are dependent on men for financial, emotional and physical support. When the TV screen or a commercial poster displays only slender long legs, prominent breasts or thighs, it is difficult to perceive that body holistically and as possessing personality.

In addition, the portrayed female characters are largely influenced by the beauty myth.

The distinction of toys and games based on sex, that is, what is appropriate for boys and girls, appeared in the second half of the 20th century;

To strengthen cooperation between public authorities and media to achieve social equality between women and men; To raise gender-sensitivity of media and continue gender-awareness training for journalist; To support and encourage media that covers issues of gender equality;

Considering that, in the history and culture of fashion and appearance, the mothers became responsible for raising their sons and daughters, the topics and articles in the magazines about appropriate clothing and toys for boys and girls focus on the maternal figure as the consumer and the one responsible for family consumption;

As Burke 2008 , p.

They have flawless skin, slender stature and embody all components of beauty as perceived in society. As a result of globalization this myth is increasingly generalized across cultures and societies.

The standards of beauty as portrayed in media, however, are impossible to achieve, since the models have been transformed into these images through a number of technical means. In 2012 The International Women's Media Foundation carried out a study of world news agencies and corporations to determine the status of women in the news media.

This first large-scale study illustrated that in all areas of media women were still facing problems in achieving equality. The survey conducted in 59 countries, revealed that women make up only 33. Interestingly, Uganda and Russia are among the top countries where men and women almost equally appear in leading positions.

Unfortunately, this has not changed the images of women in media. Not only should women be represented in top management and have major impact on the decision-making process, but they should also undergo professional training. Otherwise, the female journalists and media executives, who have been educated with the media rules of patriarchal system, also often reproduces the sexist images of women. With this in mind, a number of international organizations have concluded conventions and treaties with states through which they support the training of media employees by giving them the necessary tools and know-how to develop gender-sensitive policies.

Despite the tremendous change that has taken place in the sphere of media thanks to feminist criticism, the contemporary media are nowhere close to the standards they claim.

Even in US and Europe, where feminist ideas are widely spread, and women have legally reached equal rights with men, media continue to have discriminatory attitudes towards women and rely on male worldview when portraying women.

Women in advertisements tend to be cut off from real life and appear next to the product that is being advertised, with no real environment.

For the dialogue with the girls, the "tests" constitute the mechanism for identifying the types of skin and hair, with a view to an intervention based on acquiring the ideal product to solve the "problem". The survey conducted in 59 countries, revealed that women make up only 33.

There is a normative prescription that makes each individual search for an ideal body and appearance. Change in this sphere can be achieved only through indirect impact.

Representations and manifestations of femininity differ across cultures, time and societies. Media images of women have become a subject of criticism in Feminist Media Studies since 1960s, when Betty Friedan in her book entitled The Feminine Mystique 1963 revealed and criticized the image of an ideal woman in post-war America.

The adaptation process was long and tense. Many people ask me what I do to be pretty and what my beauty secrets are.

Many researchers and analysts have documented the fact that in these countries women are also poorly represented in media which in turn has had a negative impact on the formation of value system. Today, all of us, in fact, are part of the media not only as consumers, but also as producers. And anyone, woman or man, can cover their problems and story by themselves, make it public, and turn it into media for consumption.

These new possibilities, however, also bring about new challenges. In case of traditional media, it is possible to work with the leadership and staff to undergo training and achieve some results. In case of social media, not only groups in need of support voice their opinion, and publicize their perceptions freely, but also those people who threaten these groups and spread discriminatory and offensive comments about them.

Thus, the quality of information disseminated in social media and the comments on these pieces of information are much more sexist and patriarchal. Change in this sphere can be achieved only through indirect impact. In other words, the sexist traditional media educates sexist citizens who spread their sexist perceptions through social media.

Change in the gender policy of traditional media and its compliance with international norms remain to be the most effective way for breaking this vicious circle.

Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung

In particular, provisions 47 to 49 in section on "Strategy of Gender Policy Implementation in the Spheres of Culture and Public Information" include the following actions: To strengthen cooperation between public authorities and media to achieve social equality between women and men; To raise gender-sensitivity of media and continue gender-awareness training for journalist; To support and encourage media that covers issues of gender equality. Among the solutions the program mentions the following steps: Coverage of all efforts undertaken by the State aimed at ensuring equal rights and opportunities of women and men in the public, political and socio-economic spheres; Increased gender-sensitivity of mass media; Coverage of gender issues, and elimination of gender-based and gender-stereotype-informed discriminatory practices.

Thus, the RA Government has undertaken the obligation to implement all these measures and achieve gender equality in media. The program is nearing its end, and the results are evident from a number of studies conducted in the sphere of media. Several important studies have been conducted aimed at analyzing women's role and images in media. Women in advertisements tend to be cut off from real life and appear next to the product that is being advertised, with no real environment.

TV advertisements tend to include more middle-aged women than the magazines. By assigning passive, secondary, and unimportant roles to women, media conveys incomplete picture of the Armenian reality. The objectification and fragmentation of the female body, as well as the scenes of violence against women, render discriminatory attitudes and gender-based violence against women as normative.